General Chat

Just a quick one while Ruby is terrorising the girls :-D :-D .

Mel you can get decaffeinated tea, David use to drink this when he stayed with us, but I think it is an acquired taste.Sorry to hear you are still itching. I remember when Peter had this it turned out he was allergic to Savlon which he had used on a cut.

Richard is still coughing but it seems to be improving the Doctor also prescribed him an inhaler as at one point it was affecting his breathing.

Ruby has now tired herself out and is trying to jump on my lap for a cuddle

Evening All,

Dull, dreary and drab here today and rain all day too. :-S

Yes I was in contact with Liz over a week ago she said she was taking a short break just like she has before but would be back soon.

Mel I drank only decaf tea and coffee for years, but even decaf coffee has some caffeine so I rarely have that anymore and stick to tea. Sometimes I have the fruit teas like Mandy says but it's OH that drinks most of those. I like the Sainsbury's Red Label Decaf tea the best. I still have some chocolate, but should cut that out too really!! That itching must be driving you mad. Have you tried taking a flannel in a bowl of cold water to bed? Laying a col, damp flannel over where it itches can sometimes give a few minutes relief. A hot water bottle with cold water in it can do the same.

OH Mandy I bet your OH was mad at doing that with the cupboard!! Nothing worse than doing one job and ending up making another!! You must have to keep an eye on young Max........I bet everything gets the taste test with him!

That's good your new DW is installed now Jane.......no more cluttered kitchen worktops! I bet Janice and Larry are in heaven lazing on their cruise and being waited on. It must be bliss for them!

Do you think the Robin is sitting on eggs Frank? It will be lovely if they hatch eggs and you can watch them getting fed and hear their cheeping. :-) It was nice of the neighbour to compliment Ros on the fence. It will spur her on.......not that she needs any spurs!! lol.

Good service from your surgery Anne. I hope Richard soon feels better. There seem to have been some nasty chest infections this winter and I see Bruce Forsyth, at age 89, has been quite poorly after getting one.

My efforts today at beading look like getting 'undone' and a fresh start made as the beads just don't sit right at all. :-) The stinging nettle effect with my knees is better today but they still feel bruised and my back stiff so I haven't done a lot but daren't sit too long without standing for a short while.

OH is calling to watch something we recorded. Sweet dreams everyone! :-)

Hi all, Some Bloo** American trash on for the next 18 weeks "LETHAL WEPONS" So I won't be watching any of those. Ros has turned over to Miss Marple so she can't be interested.

My right cheek is still very painful. The injection is very THICK and she has to use a BIG NEEDLE to get it out of the syringe. She buries the needle so deep into the muscle, that it always hurts for a few days.

Dos did the dinner tonight. Pork Chops with home made stuffing (her dads recipe) Bit strong for me. After that breakfast this morning, I wasn't very hungry either.

Poor OH Mandy, what a thing to happen !!! Do one job and make TWO. ;-) ;-)

Still haven't had a beer !! What a good boy I am ;-) ;-) I must admit I slept perfectly well last night again, so I hope I can continue. I will just have a few pints at the pub when a match is on. Monday WEST HAM play CHELSEA at 8.00 pm So I will certainly be there for that one.

I think I will get an early night again as I keep yawning, and struggling to keep my eyes open.

See you in the morning.

Well I shall try cutting out the Omeprazole. I have put on the new cream and am still itching likke mad just below the small of my back.

Took a little wet sample with me today and that was all clear so thats one good thing.

I have this cream which looks like blancmange the lady said when she gave it to me so of course I had to open the box and have a good look and she was right but I think it looks more like marsh mallow in a bottle. I have to mix some with water to shower with. I have put some on my arms and some on my back but still itching. Its one of those itches that you can't satisfy. Its now starting around my neck now.

I have taken two of the antihistamins so far but they don't seem to be working either.

Morning all

Lovely sunny day here today. I'm surprised as they said it was going to rain all weekend. I'm not complaining though I 'd much rather have the sun, so long as it's not to hot.

I think I've finally finished copying over my tree, but will give it a check, just to make sure.

What a shame with the cupboard Mandy, can it be fixed? So Max was trying to help was he? :-) :-)

Has Ros finished the painting now Frank? How nice of the neighbours to comment on it, I bet Ros was thrilled after all her hard work?

That was early for the dishwasher to arrive Jane, good job Chris was up and almost ready to answer the door.

Sorry to hear you're still itching Mel, have you tried some camomile lotion. I remember using it when I had chicken pox and it was very soothing.

How is Richard today Anne, hope the antibiotics are kicking in and he's over his chest infection soon. So little Ruby is going to have more people to play with over the weekend, she sounds like she's full of energy, but then that is puppies all over isn't it? Lovely to watch though :-) Hope you're not to tired running around after her and you're getting enough sleep, is Ruby still sleeping well at night?

Yes, the Robin could be sitting on eggs Frank, how wonderful would that be to see the little ones when they arrive, if that's the case. She certainly eating a lot by the sounds of it. Hope you're feeling a bit better today <3

Did you manage to sort out your beading Ann. How are your knees today, hope they are feeling better <3

Morning Gill and everyone, Evening Kim,

My sister's birthday today 82. I sent a card that she has received. The flowers haven't arrived yet, so they will be a surprise for her later.

She had to go back to the hospital on Wednesday. She sat for 3 hours on the toilet at home trying to have a wee. After sitting around at the hospital the doctor checked her and said she has a water infection. Would you believe the DOCTOR ?? had to ask a NURSE how to put a catheter in. She needs reporting for her lack of knowledge. They removed three and a half pints from her. She now has the catheter fitted and a bag on her leg. So to say the least she's not a "HAPPY BUNNY"

Clear blue sky's here with no breeze. Everywhere is far to wet to do anything outside due to all the rain yesterday.

Have you managed to DAMAGE the DW yet Jane ???

Mel, Lets hope the MARSH MELLOW ?? does some good. It must be hell trying to scratch the small of your back. Do you have a back scratcher ??? I have a wooden one in the shape of an open hand, the fingers seems to get in the right places.

I will a have look at the ROBIN'S nest if she's not on it, to see what, if any eggs are in there. I will also top up the meal worms.

Cheek feels a bit better this morning, I tried not to sleep on it last night.

What are you all up to today ?? I might take a stroll to the pub for the football at 12.00 noon. 12.30 pm Kick off.

Ros has gone off to meet Martine for their Saturday shop and chat. If the weather stays fine I expect she will be in the garden this afternoon doing more painting. I must say it does look nice in that SILVER GREY colour. Makes a change from GREEN.

Good Morning everyone

A nice bright sunny morning here at the moment and a lot of daffodils and crocus are now out in the garden, plus the hyacinths are nearly in flower.

Ruby is fast asleep on Becky's lap and Abbie has gone into Bracknell to meet up with her friends they both had crumpets for breakfast, something they don't have at home. Richard is still in bed asleep, so all is peaceful. Ruby still sleeps well at night she seems to enjoy being in her cage in the bedroom

How annoying for Colin having all his hard work needing doing again Mandy I can just imagine Max trying to help him out. We do like all red meat cooked very well done too, any sign of blood and it's back in the oven.

How are the itches Mel ? When I get an itchy skin I use E45 cream, mine is because I do get very dry skin and it's always worse in the winter months

Frank glad to hear you had a better night's sleep and your cheek is less painful, the needle sounds very much like the one I had for my iron injections when I was pregnant, I use to have them every other day in alternate cheeks, some more painful than others. That was nice Ros getting complimented on all her hard work on the garden fence. Happy 82nd birthday to your sister the flowers will be a nice surprise for her, not good her hospital experience

Is your new dishwasher doing a good job Jane ? They were certainly bright and early delivering it, did they plumb it in for you as well?

Gill you must have added a lot more family members on your tree now, I find this can be very addictive, I when I have a quiet moment must have another look at mine. How is Sandra today, she sounds such good company for you, bless her

Ann hopefully your beading goes better when you start it again and I hope your knee and back are improving too .

Morning all,

Some sunshine but showers too.

Anne my daffs are out and the crocus have been out for a week or so. The hyasinths are showing colour too. It is so nice to see a bit of colour in the garden again after the winter months.

Frank your Robin should be feeding its mate if she is sitting on the nest. She will lay an egg a day up to about four or five and then start sitting for two weeks I think before they hatch.

The Wren is still adding to the nest in oh's filter shed. We keep seeing it with a beak full of moss it seems to be gathering from the tree outside the shed.

Well I am sitting here with a mug of Ovaltine Hot Choc and its not doing what a nice mug of tea would do. It has made my mouth all claggy because it has sweetener in it I think and I don't like sugar or sweetner in drinks. Think I shall have to have a glass of water instead or milk.

I think I may have bu**ered the washing machine up!!!! I put it on last night and it was on a 60 wash and I changed it to a 40 one but it just showed -0- and anti crease finish is showing. I can't open the door and can't turn it off because the plug is behind it and I don't think oh can get it out either!!

Happy 82nd birthday to your sister Frank, she'll love the flowers when they arrive later <3 <3 Sorry to hear of the episode at the hospital though, the doctor should of known what to do without having to ask the nurse. It must be more comfortable for your sister now, will she need to keep the bag for long, it's not pleasant, but does do the trick?

Pleased to hear Ruby is still sleeping well Anne, you have been lucky with her haven't you? Sandra is fine, she has been playing on my DS lately so is enjoying that. It gave me some time to do a bit of my family tree as she was so engrossed in the DS she hardly spoken to me.......never mind so long as she's happy, that's the main thing. The peace helped me to concentrate as OH has been in work a lot lately too. I'm just checking I've copied everything over to my backup tree with all the relevant information then this part of my tree will be finished and I can move onto other things I want to do, like the garden.

I'm hoping the weather improves so the garden will dry out, it seems to flood quite a bit now the garage has been taken away. Once it's dried out then OH and I are going to see if we can solve the water problem. We might have to have a few raised borders so the plants don't sit in water all the time. Sandra is loving all the flowers we planted in pots last year and have in the greenhouse, they have all come up nicely so she keeps taking pictures of them, I think she is going to take some pictures today, now there are more on show......that's if she can tear herself away from the DS LOL ;-) ;-)

Hi Mel, didn't see you there. Sorry to hear about your washing machine, hope you can fix it soon. Sometimes putting it on another wash fixes the problems. It might be worth a try. Hope you manage to find a drink that you like and suits you, there's plenty out there to choose from, it's just a point of finding the right one isn't it?

Still itching arms, tummy back neck.

<3 <3 <3 Happy Birthday Frank's sister <3 <3 <3

Hope she feels better soon.

Washing machine sorted. Oh came and had a look at it. Put a chair in front of it and watched it for a while. I came up to him and told him what I had done and he asked for the book to it. I said try putting on the 60 wash again and he did and away it went. It has just finished its cycke.

Afternoon All
Is there no difference at all yet Mel with the itching? Keep persevering with the cream and the antihistamine .Water is probably the best think to drink lots of.I can't stand ovaltine .It's too malty for my liking.

Happy Birthday to your Sister Frank <3. She must have been in agony not being able to wee for so long. At least with the catheter now it should keep flowing and be flushing out any nasty bugs. I am shocked that the Female Doctor didn't know how to Catheterize .I know these days it is often a Nurse that will do that rather than the Dr.
Did your flowers arrive?.I am sure they would have cheered her up a treat :-D

Gill,what is your DS that Sandra is enjoying using? I'm sure I should know but just can't think what the letters stand for. I hope all the rain water in your garden drains away soon.It normally doesn't take too long does it?. Lets hope you don't get much more rain. I have a feeling we are in for a wet day tomorrow.

Ruby is going to be worn out b y the time the girls go home Anne :-D.I bet she is loving all the attention and making the most of it LOL Showing off and being silly :-D.She is so good for you at night in her crate.Do you find yourself waking in the night and listening for any sounds coming from her?I know I would be.
I decided last night to sleep on my own again .Thomas have known my intention as he was up those stairs and onto Hannahs bed .By the time I got up there he was rolling around being all tarty LOL.He definitely has a pefect body clock.Waking again at 3.40 ,prowling all over the bed and giving me licks and lots of purrs.He settled down again and was p and raring to go at just after 5.30.He was getting a bit silly with his antics so by 5.45 I had had enough and let him out.I think I wil make sure I keep him downstairs tonight as I don't want it to become a habit(even though I love having him sleep on the bed)

Phew ,Mel good job the washing machine is running fine again.No big expense :-D.You really didn't need that .

Yes the dishwasher is doing its job lovely :-D.We were finding that without it the inside of the mugs were getting so stained with tea,but now they are SPARKLING :-D

Is your cupboard back up now Mandy? :-D :-D No more blue air?

It looks like it might be beginning to rain a bit so I am quickly going to go and fill up the bird window feeder.

It's a Nintendo DS Jane, the DS stands for Duel Screen. It's an electronic games console, where you can put different games in, Sandra loves it. It was one of my birthday presents years ago, which I might add, I've hardly had a chance to play myself as everyone else gets in there before me LOL :-D :-D :-D She's happy playing it though and it keeps her out of mischief LOL. Our garden did drain, like you said it drains quite quickly once the rain stops, but unfortunately the rain is back so it'll probably flood again as the ground is already very wet.
I did laugh when you said Thomas was being all tarty......you are funny.

Pleased to hear your washing machine is working again Mel. So trying another cycle worked then. I thought it might, which is why I mentioned it, as I've had a similar problem myself in the past. Did you see my post about camomile lotion, it's pink and might work better than the cream you have. It might be worth a try, it's very soothing, just like cold water.

How did the match go Frank, hope the weather stayed nice for your walk to the pub and no one was parked in the wrong place this time. ;-) ;-)

We put the cycle on the one I started with on the 60 abd it worked ok. Which reminds me the washing is still in there!

I am really missing my tea.................................and felt all floppy this afternoon sitting at the pc so decided to do a bit of ironing.

Is Tarty Thomas in now Jane?

The new cream I got was not Cetraben but Doublebase Gel. Its great and I have been washing my hands with it all day and they look so soft now and YOUNGER!! I think the spots on my arms are looking a bit better too.

Evening All,

Happy birthday to your sis Frank and I hope the flowers were a lovely surprise for her.

Oh yes Jane I'd forgotten how I used to use one of those nylon scourer pad things to clean cups before the DW came. It could be very fiddly getting into all the corners!

A lovely sunny day here but I never went far. We decided to go and try the tearoom Sally used to run in the village and just have poached eggs on toast this morning. The new owners have done a lot of work on it but not fixed the 'too hot in summer, too cold in winter' problem with it being all glass like a greenhouse. In fact they have made it worse as they have taken the side blinds and roof blinds down and only put some reeds inside the roof to cool it a bit. They told us just after they moved in that there would be aircon! It was dazzlingly bright in there today and being so sunny we were soon down to bare arms and still too hot! One thing we noticed and didn't like was that they appeared to have sprinkled salt on the toast under the eggs. WHY? We never use salt at all at home in cooking or add any to our food after so why do they assume everyone would want this. It does make me cross as there is salt on the tables for people to add some but you can't take it away once it's there can you? :-S

We were talking today about getting one of those steam generator irons. Does anyone have one and is it good? I seem to remember Maureen that used to be on the thread getting one. I don't do much ironing as OH does it, but he is a bit slow getting around to it at times and we think one would be good for getting dried in creases out. :-)

My knees and back are still stiff and achey, but none of the stinging so are slightly better today despite me limping into the co-op earlier! I must be careful not to push on when they hurt in future and to try and lose a few pounds. :-S

Quite a few fields nearby are flooded after all the rain yesterday, some with ponies in. There's more rain forecast here for tomorrow so I expect the flooding will get worse.

At last the Blackthorn blossom is out here now and the crocuses Mel! That was lucky you got your washer working again and at least you know what to do now if it happens again. I expect the itching may take a few days to improve. It's no joke though. Is there a rash or blistering or is it just the annoying itch?

There's a bit of a rash here and there but mostly on my arms, the small of my back and thats all I can see. Well I can't see the small of my back but oh said it was there.

As to tea stains in your mugs and cups you only have to put a tiny bit of washing powder in them and a drop of boiling water and it will take all the stains away. Or you could use a little soda.

Better get the oven on as its Fillet Steak night. No wine as I am trying to lose a bit of weight and doc said no alchahol for th e two months either. My world is crumbling apart without my tea and port before bed.........

Hi all that silly Ant and Dec are on the tele, so I have come out of the way while they are on. I will go over to either Sky 123 or 119 when I go to sit down.

My sister rang this afternoon, just as I was about to drop off for a few zzzz. She was very pleased with the flowers. I think I was the only one to do that.

Anne I dread to think what it would be like to have an injection like that every other day. Once a month is bad enough. Talking of iron replacement. My mother use to take Iron crystals. They were kept in a tall cupboard away from us children. They rotted her teeth, and the spoon she used corroded away !!! Glad the little Ruby is sleeping though the night.

Jane, you are making "a rod for your own back" (that a good old saying) Thomas will, I am sure get used to sleeping on the bed with you, as nice as it is, it appears you don't get a good nights rest.

Mel, If this itching continues, I would ask to be refered to a specialist to see if they can find the cause of it. It seems to be going on a long time.

Madam was in the garden doing more fence painting until "rain stopped play" It has been a horrible wet, cold evening tonight. I have had a job to keep warm, even though the heating is on and the Halogen fire. I must say I feel cold and tired, so won't be late to bed tonight again. (I'm getting like you Jane)

Gill does your back garden lay lower than those around you ??this could be the cause of the flooded area. Or is it a clay under layer to the garden.

Mel, I had two pints at lunchtime and could murder a beer now. But I want to try to stop drinking at home. (it might mean me going to the pub every night) :-D :-D :-D Only joking.

Our front and back gardens are full of colour. I know I moan about the amount of plants she buys, but now the garden is looking so colourful I can forgive her <3 <3 <3

Going on Ebay now, see you in the morning.

What a shame the rain stopped Ros doing her painting, is there much left to do Frank?
Our garden is clay where we haven't took it away and put in some decent stuff, although that seems to be the parts that are flooding the most. Next door on one side is higher than us which will explain some of the flooding, it didn't bother us when the garage was there as there was a thick concrete base to stop the water, but now it's like a swimming pool. We've got no chance of planting anything in that border as it would probably rot. At the moment we have a lot of large pot plants there which look nice but they are starting to sink with it being so wet. We were thinking of digging a trench between us and next door and fill it with concrete as a barrier but think it would just go underneath and rise to the surface eventually, so now we've had another thought of having a raised border there. We'll have to wait and see when it dries out in a few months.

Pleased to hear you managed it to the pub, was it a good match? Hope you didn't have parked cars to contend with on the way. Your garden sounds lovely and colourful. Sandra took some pictures today of all the flowers we planted together last year, they are looking smashing now. So glad we put them in the greenhouse though as I doubt they'd of looked so good outside with the storm and all the rain we've had lately.

How is the little Robin doing, did you manage to see if there were any eggs, or is it to early yet. Is the nest finished, you said she was still bobbing in and out with bits?

Oh Ann salt underneath the eggs, it sounds awful, imagine if you didn't know and added salt yourself, you wouldn't of been able to eat it at all. I know you don't have salt but other people do. It's a very strange way of doing things. Maybe next time you could ask them not to use salt. Is there any where inside you could sit away from all the glass. I can imagine it would be to hot to sit there in the summer. Let's hope they get the air con soon.

I've not heart of the iron you mentioned. I do have a good steam iron that does the job. You are lucky your OH does the ironing. I think my OH is allergic to our iron LOL :-D :-D

Pleased to hear the new cream is working Mel, lets hope you feel much better soon :-) :-) :-)

Off to get something to eat now, I'm running really late today for some reason. I didn't realise the time and Sandra and OH were complaining they were hungry. Good job I don't make a habit of it ;-) ;-)

Morning all,

Sunshine and showers today with a high wind at time stoo.

Ann When I read the post about salt being under your eggs, I wondered if they put salt in the water when poaching the eggs as some people do this to stop the eggs spreading. Had they been cooked in water or in an actual poacher? I do put salt in the water for poaching eggs and quite a lot too.

Oh is rodding the drain this morning so the air is a bit thick.

Afternoon All

It has been raining all morning,but now seems to have stopped.Whether it will stay dry now or not I don't know.
I have a big pile of ironing to get done so will make a start on that now. Maureen swears by those 'big' iron things ,but then she takes in ironing so always has a lot to get through. They do seem to take up a lot of room.

Ann,I think it is bad that salt is added to the toast!!!. The same with chips sometimes.Some people just can't have salt or added salt in their diets.
There is one place we go and there is never salt on the tables and that is Pizza Express.So you have to ask if you want the shaker.

It is pretty breezy here.The trees are swaying around a fair bit.It's an indoor day today.

I'll be back later this afternoon.